Liberating Letters

It’s not feminists who have missed the point about sexist plays such as “Ladies’ Room”--it’s critics such as Sylvie Drake, who mistake a piece of sub-sitcom hack work for a “clever, raunchy and even wistful” play.

“Ladies’ Room” is a paint-by-numbers comedy that offers no insight because it’s about TV-style stereotypes.

You know everything there is to know about each character the moment she walks on stage: The Frigid Career Woman; The Pushy, Self-Loathing Jew; The Dumb Blonde (Who Really Isn’t So Dumb and Has Feelings Too); The Whiny Doormat; The Valley Girls. . . . The play displays contempt for them all (and, as types, they deserve it) but doesn’t have the courage or self-awareness to admit that loathing.

J. H. EMERSON

Los Angeles